Evolution by Blind Chance

1986 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-360
Author(s):  
Barrie Britton
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
World Views ◽  
Literal Interpretation ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Universe

Ever since Charles Darwin first published his revolutionary book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, there has been considerable disagreement among Christians concerning both the truth of evolutionary theory and its possible reconciliation with the Bible. Some Christians have taken the so-called ‘fundamentalist creationist’ position believing in a literal interpretation of the first few chapters of Genesis. Others have adopted so-called ‘theistic evolutionist’ views accepting to various different degrees Darwinian ideas about origins. One point however on which most Christians (and indeed non-Christians) are agreed, is that an evolutionary process based on blind chance must necessarily conflict with all possible theistic world views and stands irreconcilable with the biblical text. It is this assertion which in this essay I hope to refute, as based on misunderstanding of the meaning of blind chance, of the mechanism of evolution and of the involvement of God in the universe.

‘Short-Spanned Living Creatures’: Evolutionary Perspectives in Rhoda Broughton’s Not Wisely, but Too Well (1867)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Aaron Green
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Simple Structure ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
Crystal Palace ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Evolutionary Perspectives

Abstract In Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man (1863), Charles Lyell appraised the distinct contribution made by his protégé, Charles Darwin (On the Origin of Species (1859)), to evolutionary theory: ‘Progression … is not a necessary accompaniment of variation and natural selection [… Darwin’s theory accounts] equally well for what is called degradation, or a retrogressive movement towards a simple structure’. In Rhoda Broughton’s first novel, Not Wisely, but Too Well (1867), written contemporaneously with Lyell’s book, the Crystal Palace at Sydenham prompts precisely this sort of Darwinian ambivalence to progress; but whether British civilization ‘advance[s] or retreat[s]’, her narrator adds that this prophesized state ‘will not be in our days’ – its realization exceeds the single lifespan. This article argues that Not Wisely, but Too Well is attentive to the irreconcilability of Darwinism to the Victorian ‘idea of progress’: Broughton’s novel, distinctly from its peers, raises the retrogressive and nihilistic potentials of Darwin’s theory and purposes them to reflect on the status of the individual in mid-century Britain.

scholarly journals Triumph of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin

2009 ◽  
pp. 54-56
Author(s):  
V.I. Burenin
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Origin Of Species

This year, February, 12th marks a 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. It has already been 150 year since he published his work on the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle of Life

Darwinian Evolutionary Theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Descent Of Man

Charles Robert Darwin, the English naturalist, published On the Origin of Species in 1859 and the follow-up work The Descent of Man in 1871. In these works, he argued for his theory of evolution through natural selection, applying it to all organisms, living and dead, including our own species, Homo sapiens. Although controversial from the start, Darwin’s thinking was deeply embedded in the culture of his day, that of a middle-class Englishman. Evolution as such was an immediate success in scientific circles, but although the mechanism of selection had supporters in the scientific community (especially among those working with fast-breeding organisms), its real success was in the popular domain. Natural selection, and particularly the side mechanism of sexual selection, were known to all and popular themes in fiction and elsewhere.

Merengkuh Bumi Merawat Semesta: Mengupayakan Hermeneutik Ekologis dalam Rangka Menanggapi Kerusakan Lingkungan Dewasa Ini

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Darius Ade Putra
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Text ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Ecological Damage ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Since the 1960s, started by Lynn White, Christianity has begun to get attacks because it is considered to have triggered ecological damage. Christianity through the teachings of the Bible is accused of legitimizing absolute anthropocentric ideas which then give rise to expansive actions to the environment and nature. In the midst of the massive damage to the environment and in order to fi nd a possible solution to this problem, it is felt necessary to resonance the new approach to the Scriptures that further explores the sound of the earth. One approach that can be developed is ecological hermeneutics. Based on several principles it is possible to see and understand the biblical text from the perspective of the earth. In addittion, this approach will be elaborated with local wisdom so that it can help the text contextualization process. In the end, a new paradigm is expected to encourage awareness of the importance to tend the universe.   Abstrak Sejak tahun 1960an, dimulai oleh Lynn White, Kekristenan mulai mendapat serangan karena dinilai telah menjadi pemicu kerusakan ekologi. Kekristenan melalui ajaran Alkitab dituduh melegitimasi gagasan-gagasan antroposentris absolut yang kemudian melahirkan tinndakan- tindakan ekspansif terhadap lingkungan dan alam. Di tengah masifnya kerusakan lingkungan dan dalam rangka mencari kemungkinan jalan keluar dari persoalan ini, dirasa perlu untuk menggemakan pendekatan baru pada Kitab Suci yang lebih mengeksplorasi suara bumi. Salah satu pendekatan yang bisa dikembangkan adalah hermeneutik ekologi. Berdasarkan beberapa prinsip-prinsipnya memungkinkan untuk melihat dan memahami teks Alkitab dari perspektif bumi. Selain itu, pendekatan ini akan dielaborasi dengan local widom agar membantu proses kontekstualisasi teks. Pada akhirnya diharapkan sebuah paradigma baru yang mendorong kesadaran akan pentingnya merawat alam semesta.

scholarly journals Evolution of human diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Harem othman Smail
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Medical Process ◽  
Multiple Antibiotics

The main aims of this review were to understand the roles of evolutionary process in human disease. The suffering of human from disease may be millions years ago and until now are continuing and the human disease can be classified into many types based on their sources such as bacterial, Genetics and viral. For the past sixty years the scientist carried out high number of experiment to understand   and the decision of the evolutionary process impact of the human disease. the main example of effect of evolution on the human health are using overuse of antibiotics against bacterial infection   and the results to the speedy evolution of bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics such that even vancomycin. The process of natural selection which is proposed by Charles Darwin play vital roles in Biological and medical process and also helps to predict and find the relationship between natural selection process of evolution and phenotypical traits. Understanding the developmental and genetic underpinnings of unique evolutionary changes have been hindered by way of insufficient databases of evolutionary anatomy and through the lack of a computational method to become aware of underlying candidate genes and regulators to the developing o the process of the evolution with helps of other branches of modern sciences such as genetics, Bioinformatics, epidemiology, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry.

The Loss of Rational Design

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 235-257
Author(s):  
Friedel Weinert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
British Association ◽  
Human Origins ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Descent Of Man

Charles Darwin published hisOrigin of Specieson November 24, 1859. Whatever hurdle the theory of natural selection faced in its struggle for acceptance, its impact on human self-images was almost immediate. Well before Darwin had the chance of applying the principle of natural selection to human origins—in hisDescent of Man(1871)—his contemporaries quickly and rashly drew the inference to man's descent from the ape. Satirical magazines likePunchdelighted in depicting Darwin with his imposing head on an apish body. At the Oxford meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (June 1860), Bishop Wilberforce asked T. H. Huxley triumphantly whether he traced his ancestry to the ape on his grandfather's or grandmother's side. A wave of evolutionary texts swept over Europe (L. Biichner, E. Haeckel, T. H. Huxley, J. B. Lamarck, C. Lyell, F. Rolle, E. Tyler and K. Vogt). Written in English, French and German, they all had a common focus: the place of humans in a Darwinian world, including religion and morality.

The Loss of Rational Design

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 20-21
Author(s):  
Friedel Weinert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
British Association ◽  
Human Origins ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Descent Of Man

Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species on November 24, 1859. Whatever hurdle the theory of natural selection faced in its struggle for acceptance, its impact on human self-images was almost immediate. Well before Darwin had the chance of applying the principle of natural selection to human origins—in his Descent of Man (1871)—his contemporaries quickly and rashly drew the infer–ence to man’s descent from the ape. Satirical magazines like Punch delighted in depicting Darwin with his imposing head on an apish body. At the Oxford meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (June 1860), Bishop Wilberforce asked T.

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